ACTU: Where Are The Jobs, Prime Minister?

Six hundred jobs must be added to the economy every day in order for Mr Abbott to fulfil his election promise to create one million new jobs within five years, unions said today.

ACTU President Ged Kearney called on Prime Minister Abbott to use his first Parliamentary statement of the year to outline his jobs plan to the nation.

"Mr Abbott promised one million new jobs within five years, that's around six hundred new jobs every day but since he's come to office, all we've seen are job losses," Ms Kearney said.

"Over the past six months Australia has experienced the biggest fall in employment in over a decade, Australians urgently want action to protect and create local jobs.

"Only last week Mr Abbott turned his back on 3000 SPC workers in Shepparton and gallingly, made a series of misleading claims when blaming the workers for the company’s demise.

"Mr Abbott did nothing when Rio Tinto announced the loss of over 1000 jobs in Gove and in quite an astonishing statement claimed that Holden workers would feel liberated from losing their jobs.

"This is on top of Mr Abbott's plans to cut around 14,000 jobs from the public sector and that's before the Commission of Audit stumps up with their agenda of cuts to jobs and services.

"As growth softens and unemployment rises, what Australians are looking for is a Government with a plan to address job creation and strengthen the economy.

“Instead the Government’s answer is to savagely cut public sector jobs, do nothing as jobs are lost elsewhere across the economy, and go after penalty rates, wages and conditions."

"Mr Abbott had no trouble parading around in a hard hat and a high vis vest before the election but has turned his back on workers since becoming Prime Minister."

Ms Kearney said the Abbott Government's cuts to skills funding for trade training centres and their decision to get rid of the $10 billion clean energy finance corporation that would have created thousands of new high skilled, innovative local jobs was short sighted.